Two conversations
No new ideas. Two scripts. Use them this week.
By the end of this lesson
Walk away with two scripts you can use this week — one for talking to your kid about AI homework, one for setting up the safe-word with an older parent or relative.
No new ideas in this one. Just practice.
Two scripts you can use this week — one for talking to your kid about AI homework, one for setting up the safe-word with an older parent or relative. Both use what you already learned in lessons 1-4.
You can copy them. Edit them. Make them yours. The point isn't the exact words. The point is that you have something ready when the moment comes.
The kid script
Set the scene. Fifteen minutes after dinner, with the AI tool already open. They're not in trouble — you're showing them something.
"I want to show you something about how AI like ChatGPT actually works. It's not magic — it's an autocomplete that read most of the internet, and it predicts the next word. Watch this."
(Ask the AI a question they're working on. Then ask the same question framed differently. Show how the answer changes.)
"Notice — both of those answers sound confident. Only one might be right. Sometimes neither is. That's why YOU still have to think."
"Here's the line that holds: AI is fine for thinking with — brainstorming, getting unstuck, explaining hard things — but it's not for handing in. If you couldn't walk me through what you wrote, it's not your work yet."
"I'm not going to ban it. I'm asking you to know what it is. And to be honest with your teacher when AI helped — not because of detectors, those don't work — but because you need to know what part is yours, and your teacher does too."
"Pick a question for school you've been stuck on. Let's try it together."
That's the script. Roughly fifteen minutes. Adapt the words. Hold the principle.
Your kid's been struggling with quadratic equations. You sit down. "Set up a maths tutor in ChatGPT — patient, never gives the final answer, just hints. I'll show you how." Half an hour later, they've solved three problems with help, two without. That's a better lesson on AI in homework than any rule you could write.
The older parent (or older relative) script
Set the scene. Visiting a parent or grandparent. Phone or tablet open between you. They're not being warned — you're explaining something they need to know.
"Mum, there's a scam I want to tell you about. It's about phone calls."
"Scammers can now copy a voice from a few seconds of audio — anything posted on Facebook, a voicemail, a video call you've been on. They use that to call relatives in panic, asking for money urgently, saying don't tell anyone."
"Here's the rule. If anyone calls you in a panic asking for money — even if they sound exactly like me, or your grandkids — you do three things."
"One: hang up. Real emergencies survive 30 seconds. Real me will be relieved when you call back."
"Two: call me back on this number. Right here in your contacts."
"Three: ask me a word. We'll pick one right now."
(Pick a safe-word together. Memorable but odd. Examples: blue teapot, window-socks, moon-biscuit. Not anyone's name. Not anything that's been on Facebook. Send a text confirming.)
"If anyone calls you sounding like family and panicked, you ask them that word. The real person will know. The scammer won't."
"That's it. Two minutes. Now you've got it."
That's the script. Two minutes. Repeat with each older relative.
Your dad picks "window-socks" because it makes him laugh. He texts you to confirm. Three weeks later you call him, joke around, ask him what's our word. He remembers. The system works because the conversation happened — not because the word is clever.
Try this — pick the date now
Pick which conversation to have first this week. The kid one or the older-parent one. Both take less than 15 minutes.
Now do this:
- Open your calendar.
- Put the conversation in. Not "sometime" — actual time, actual day.
- Set a reminder.
You're already ready. The conversation only works when it happens.
Keep this
- Rule — Every family-AI conversation is short. The goal is the conversation, not the lecture.
- Phrase — Use the line that fits — the kid one, the parent one. Both already work.
- Don't — Don't try to make this formal. Don't print these out. Don't read from your phone. Use your own voice.
Pop quiz, no marks
-
Which conversation will you have first this week — and when?
Show answer
There's no right answer. The right answer is one with a date and a time, not "sometime soon".
What this practice produces
- The kid script — A 15-minute conversation script for talking to your kid about AI in homework. Synthesises lessons 1, 2, and 4.
- The older-parent script — A 2-minute conversation script for setting up the family safe-word with a parent or older relative. Synthesises lesson 3.
One last thing — keep these in your head
Ten cards from the four lessons. No marks. Click to flip. Mark "got it" or "show me again".